Phased Redevelopment: Our Plan for Zero Displacement of Residents

From the outset of the planning process more than two years ago, one of the first clear decisions was establishing an absolute commitment to zero displacement of Friendship Court families through the redevelopment process. This assurance is made possible by using a strategy of phased development.

The existing open space bordering 6th Street SE at the eastern edge of the site provides a remarkable opportunity to build first before anyone moves. Phase 1 of the redevelopment will be built only on the existing open space to make this strategy feasible.

Once Phase 1 construction is complete, approximately 100-110 beautiful new homes will have been built. 40 families from Friendship Court will move into their new homes alongside new additional affordable and market rate apartments. Each phase of development will be integrated with mixed income households.

Phase 2 construction will commence soon after the first 40 Friendship Court families have moved in. The 40 existing apartments they will have just vacated will then be torn down and replaced with a new batch of beautiful homes. This sequence of building first and then moving in will continue until everyone is re-housed through all phases, thereby maintaining zero displacement through the entire process.

The preliminary master plan released in 2016, envisioned seven phases of redevelopment, equating to a lengthy twelve year construction period, or perhaps even longer. One of the most significant concerns we heard from residents at Friendship Court after it was released was that this plan would take too long. In partnership with the Advisory Committee, we refined the plan, reducing the redevelopment to four phases. Four phases was the least number of phases we could devise while also maintaining quality of life through construction and other priorities expressed by Friendship Community community. The revised plan aims to have all Friendship Court families in their new homes within seven years.

The next step in the process is that the City needs to review the overall redevelopment plan to be sure the proposed plan will meet required City codes and necessary infrastructure, such as roads, parking, emergency vehicle access, etc. On June 13, we submitted this overall Preliminary Site Plan to the City for their review. When the review is completed, we will submit a detailed Phase 1 site plan (hopefully in late summer or early fall of 2018) to obtain the necessary Building Permits for construction.

With permits in hand and financing secured, construction is planned to begin around the beginning of 2020. Phase 1 construction will be completed, with families ideally moving in, towards the end of 2021. Through this process, like every development, we will face some factors that are partially outside our control. Examples include permit and entitlement approval, federal interest rate hikes and impact on financing, etc. As we have been so far, we will continue to do everything we can to mitigate for these factors and are deeply committed to maintaining this timeline.

The advantages of a phased development process to the Friendship Court community are immense. Given the painful legacy of urban renewal and institutionalized racism in our community and across the country, the opportunity to redevelop with zero displacement of community residents is both rare and exceptionally powerful.